B-Free

§ 1Bullying in youth sport is pervasive and under-addressed. Verbal taunts, social exclusion and physical intimidation carry consequences well beyond the pitch: anxiety, loss of confidence, and physical symptoms of stress. An EU-wide survey across six countries found that nearly 65% of youth sport participants had experienced psychological violence during their childhood sporting years.

§ 2Team sports breed higher rates of peer aggression than individual ones. Around 26.7% of team-sport athletes have been involved in bullying, as victim or perpetrator, against 19.1% in individual sports. Roughly one in four young athletes is directly touched by it. B-Free works at grassroots level, where most of those athletes actually play and where safeguarding capacity is thinnest.

§ 3The project uses breakdance and movement practice as its vehicle. A shared physical activity with no fixed hierarchy is a better setting for teaching respect than a lecture about it, and it gives young people a reason to keep turning up. Oslo Orcas IF coordinates a consortium of eight organisations across seven countries.